A Little Bit of Metal
by Cryostatus1
Summary: What if Luffy's crew had an extra member? Someone with a little bit of Steel in them, and a whole lot of other metals as well. Better watch out Axel, Nami might try to mine your body for gold. (Summery sucks, I know.)
1. Chapter 1

**A Little Bit of Metal.**

 **So… this is my first Fanfic… damn I'm nervous, but oh well, I guess that I'll just have to soldier on and hope that at least** _ **some**_ **of you like it.**

 **But enough about my nerves, it's time to explain what this is; this will be an OC insert fic (Yeah, an OC fic for my first fic, I know… ambitious), but I'm not going to start changing everything and making my character godlike or anything like that, I hope to make him a useful part of the SHC, but not an overpowered one. Oh yeah, he's joining Luffy's crew, because I like Luffy's crew.**

 _ **Anyway,**_ **special thanks to 'serpentguy' for permission to use one of the Devil Fruits he created, and also to his fic 'Nine Minutes' for inspiring me to start writing.**

 **On with the show!**

 **(*)**

Axel was running, they were after him, all because of that _damn_ fruit. ' _What in the hell happened to my grapes?!'_ he thought as he panted, trying to escape his pursuers. The colours green and brown filled his vision, he had entered some kind of forest. 'Or… maybe it's a jungle?' he thought absently, before he shook his head, now was not the time for thoughts like that. He ran deeper into forest, his chest burning in exhaustion from how long he had been running, and his ratty clothes in even worse state then they were originally, but he had enough energy left to glance down at the small brown sack he was carrying, which contained silver grape-like fruit that used to be a set of delicious purple beads.

He ran for another few minutes, his body powered by fear, before he was sure that he had lost them, he was surrounded by trees, and the sounds of wildlife, so he collapsed against one of the trees to catch his breath, and took out the fruit to get a better look at what it had become. "H… How did this happen?" he asked himself, brushing some of his spiky grey hair out of his eyesight.

*Flashback: before the incident.*

"Damn it you little thief!" an overweight fruit-stall owner shouted at a young boy of about 8 running away from his stall, a brown sack of grapes in his hand and a grin on his face. "Hah! You'll never take me alive!" the boy called back just before he ducked into an alley.

"Heh." Axel chuckled after a few twists and turns, he knew the back-alleys better than anyone, perks of being a street-urchin, and so in a few minutes, he had emerged from the alley, in another part of the city all together. "Okay, let's see today's haul." he muttered, opening the bag, to see that it was full of fresh purple grapes. "Nice!" he grinned, grabbing a few, and popping them into his mouth. "Not as tasty as apples, but they're good." He commented, and was preparing to get up and leave, before he froze at the sound of a gun being fired, and a body hitting the floor to the left of him.

Slowly, as if going any faster would give away his presence, he turned his head to face the sound, and paled at what he saw, his jade-green eyes wide.

"Hah! That metal body of yours didn't help this time, did it! Not when Sea-stone is involved!" an older, but still strong looking man with a beard, and wearing a long trench-coat laughed as he stood over a body, a puddle of blood slowly expanding under it, one of the body's arms had some kind of green cuffs attached to it. And for some odd reason, the man was clutching a bunch of grapes like they were a lifeline. "They **will** be mine!" the man raved with an insane grin, it was plainly obvious that this man was very unstable.

Axel almost cried out in shock at the sight, but he managed to slowly edge away without being seen, and he would have got away, if it wasn't for what happened next; the open sack that he was carrying started to glow, brightly, I might add, and suddenly began a lot heavier, as if a significant amount of the grapes were suddenly turned into metal. Axel snapped his head down to the sack, pulled it closed, and then looked back up, hoping beyond hope that the murderer in front of him hadn't seen anything, but his hopes were crushed when he saw that the man, along with the four men behind him, were looking right at him with murderous expressions.

"You…!" the man growled as he pointed his flintlock pistol at Axel, though the boy did notice that he had neglected to reload it. "Hand over that bag and everything in it, or I'll splatter your head all over the walls!" he raged.

Axel gulped, and looked between the men, they were armed with steel clubs and swords, and by the look of the smirks that they were wearing, even if he handed over the bag, something told him that he wouldn't be leaving here alive, he had just witnessed this man kill someone in cold blood after all. "W-Why do you want it?" he asked, trying to stall for time as he thought about where he was, the alleys around him were a no-go, most were dead-ends, and the rest led back to the stalls, it wouldn't end well for him back there.

"That doesn't matter! Now hand it over! Now!" the man snapped as he pulled back the hammer of his gun, seemingly not realizing that it was unloaded.

The grey haired boy flinched. ' _Okay… so stalling is not an option here…_ ' he thought as he narrowed his eyes, the lunatic in front of him had definitely forgotten to reload. "I don't know what's going on here, but something tells me that handing over this thing is a bad idea!" he stated, before he took off in a run, his only option now was to use the main paths and hope that he was faster than the psychopath and his goons.

Said psycho pulled the trigger on his gun as soon as Axel turned around to run, but he snarled as instead of the sound of a bang and the child hitting the ground, all that was heard was a pathetic click. "Get him!" he roared out to his four goons, who proceeded to charge the escaping boy.

*Flashback end*

"Why would he want this thing?" he muttered as he looked at what a large number of his grapes had fused into and become; it looked vaguely pineapple shaped, but instead of being a dull orange and having spikes emerging from its sides, it was a metallic grey, and had circles seemingly drawn in symmetric patterns around its sides, but the most notable thing about it in his opinion, was its weight, it was like he was lifting up a solid block of steel.

"That's none of your business, kid." A low, threatening voice growled out from in front of him, causing Axel to freeze, and clutch onto the fruit tightly, in front of him, was none other than the madman himself, but instead of a flintlock pistol, he held a thin curved sword. ' _A sabre…'_ Axel thought idly, before he shook himself out of it. "H-How did you find me?" he asked fearfully, he was sure that he had lost them all, he was sure of it!

The man narrowed his eyes, before nodding. "Seeing as you're going to die here, I guess there's no harm in telling you." He said, his mind coming up with a demented sort of honour for the child in front of him. "I am Horton Jamas." He introduced himself like he wasn't planning on killing the one in front of him. "Do you know what you are holding at this very moment?" he asked as he began to inspect his sword, as if he was judging if it was sharp enough.

"N-No… but it's really heavy." Axel commented, seeing this as a chance to devise a plan of escape.

Horton nodded. "Yep, it's meant to be. Tell me, have you ever heard of the Devil-fruits?" he asked, his insane grin coming back to his face, as if the words 'Devil-fruit' were a trigger.

"Devil-fruits? Aren't they supposed to be a myth?" Axel asked nervously, not seeing any way to escape, those same trees that were covering him from sight were keeping him trapped with Horton.

"Oh… No no no no no no… no." Horton shook his head with each 'No'. "Devil-fruits are as real as you or me, they're just rare here in the East-blue, they're much more common in the other seas, hell in the Grand Line, they're practically common knowledge!" he said, before he pointed his sabre at the fruit Axel was holding. "Besides… how can you say that they're a myth, while you have one right in your grubby little hands." He revealed. "The Metal-Metal fruit."

Axel's eyes widened in shock, looking down at the freaky fruit in his grasp, it suddenly seemed a whole lot more impressive, but he still didn't get something. "But… this was just a bunch of grapes half an hour ago!" he exclaimed.

Horton nodded again, seemingly not surprised. "Yep, yep, that's the thing about Devil-fruits, once you kill the guy who's eaten it, it immediately leaves his or her body to search out another fruit to host its powers." He explained with a grin. "For example, the Rumble-Rumble fruit, which stores the powers of lightning itself, is usually housed in pumpkins!" he laughed slightly, as if he had just heard a funny joke. "Funny, the powers of lightning stored in a fruit anchored to the ground."

"So… this Metal-Metal fruit is housed in… grapes?" Axel asked despite himself, he was becoming interested in what Horton was saying, he was only a child after all.

"Got it in one kid!" Horton grinned, before that grin took on a more sinister edge. "Why do you think I was holding onto that cluster of grapes, I was intending to gain the Metal-Metal fruit for my own uses! And you took that away from me!"

Axel gulped, remembering that this was a madman. "You… were going to eat it?" he asked.

Horton scoffed. "Eat it? And lose the ability to swim? No thanks, my goal was much more simplistic." He said. "I was going to get the fruit, kill the goons I had hired so they wouldn't want a cut, and then I was going to sail to the North-blue and sell it! Devil-fruits have an average value of 100,000,000 beli!" he laughed. "And with a fruit as rare and powerful as the Metal-Metal, I could live like a king if I sold it!"

Axel clutched the fruit just a little bit harder as Horton turned his eyes to him. "But then you came along… little brat." He growled, and lifted his sword. "You and your bag of grapes… you almost took my fruit away from me, but you won't be getting the fruit! It's mine! Now **DIE!** " Horton roared, and lifted his sword, before swinging it down.

Axel couldn't think, his body reacted on autopilot as he saw the psychopath lift his blade up, his eyes widened, and just before the blade hit him he took a nice big bite out of the fruit, which was surprisingly easy to bite into considering its weight, and swallowed, the last thing he saw before the sword came down, was Horton's enraged and pale face.

' _D-Damn it!_ '

 **(*)**

 **And that's the first chapter done! This will be my first fic here on this site, and I intend to stick with it for a while yet.**

 **Any feedback would be appreciated, good or bad, please, let me know how I can improve my fic, or my general writing, using the review section, I will make the next chapter as soon as possible, goodbye.**

 **Cryostatus.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A Little Bit of Metal.**

 **Disclaimer: Forgot to do this in the first chapter, so I'll do it twice now: I don't own One Piece, I** _ **do**_ **on the other hand, own my OC Axel.**

 **Okay, second chapter, the first chapter was about 2000 words if I remember correctly, let's see if I can do around the same in this chapter as well.**

 **So, the last chapter ended in a slight cliff-hanger, let's see what happened, shall we?**

 **On with the show!**

 **(*)**

*Clang*

Axel waited for his death, waited for the pain of having his head split open, waited… for something that never came, all he felt, was a dull thud on his skin. ' _H-Huh…?_ ' he thought in confusion, his eyes slowly opening.

"NO!" Horton yelled in rage, his eyes locked onto Axel's forehead, where a dull grey colour was slowly fading into nothingness. "You little shit!" he roared, swinging his sword at Axel's neck this time, causing the boy to snap his eyes closed in reflex, but it was met with the same result as last time, just before his sword hit, Axel's skin turned into a dull grey shell. ' _Metal…_ ' Axel realized as he opened his eyes again.

"You…!" Horton growled, repeating the first words that he ever said to him. " **I'LL KILL YOU!** " he roared, using both his hands two swing over and over again at the boy in front of him, with no result other than Axel's new powers springing to his defence.

*Clang* *Clang* *Clang* *Clang* *Clang* *Clang*

The sounds of metal connecting with metal echoed throughout the clearing that they were in, with Axel staring at the madman in front of him in shock. ' _I… it doesn't hurt… his sword doesn't hurt!_ ' he thought in shock. ' _H-He was telling the truth, that_ was _a Devil-fruit!_ _That means…. That means I can fight back! I won't have to run and hide anymore!_ ' he thought, clenching his fists. ' _I can fight!_ '

Horton panted as he glared daggers at Axel, he would have used the Sea-stone cuffs to render him powerless, but they were still attached to the body of the previous user of the Metal-Metal fruit, he had bought them off of the black-market, and they didn't come with keys. "You little- GAH!"

' _Okay… so I can turn my body into metal… can I direct it though?_ ' Axel thought as Horton glared at him, and concentrated on his left arm, trying to _will_ his new powers to cover his arm in the same iron shell that had defended him. And to his surprise, it worked, his arm had transformed into pure iron. ' _Here goes nothing…_ ' he thought. "Take this you bastard!" he growled, before putting all the strength he could into punching Horton in the stomach, causing him to pause in his insult and cry out in pain.

Said madman stumbled back, his iron sabre dented and chipped from the repeated times he had brought it down on Axel's iron skin. "U-Ugh… f-fu-" he was again interrupted as that same grey fist impacted his face, sending him into blissful unconsciousness.

"W-Whoa… that… that was awesome!" Axel grinned as he looked at his arm, which was turning back into his normal pale skin at a steady pace. "I have _got_ to practice with this!" he promised, before he walked off. "Now… which way is home?" he muttered, not caring about Horton now that he was out cold.

*10 years later*

"Another one?" the bounty office manager asked as he raised one of his eyebrows. He was an older man in his mid 50's, with blonde hair that had a fair bit of grey in it, he wore a simple outfit, a white button-up t-shirt, and a pair of black shorts with a pair of sandals.

"Yeah, what's this guy worth again?" a familiar head of spiky grey hair asked as he slowly walked through the entry-way, dragging the unconscious body of the pirate 'Long-shot' Alexander.

Axel had changed over the years, the short scrawny gutter-rat was no-more, and had been replaced with a 6ft tall, nicely muscled bounty-hunter. His hair was as spiky as ever, and he had let it grow down to his neck, he had found that it was a pretty nasty defence when he turned it into metal, so he had kept it that way.

As for clothes, he had traded out his ratty t-shirt and shorts, for a sleeveless white top with a dark green long sleeved coat covering it, and a set of blue jeans, as well as a set of steel cap/steel soled leather boots that he had provided the steel for himself, drastically reducing the cost.

All in all, he looked like a street-punk, but one would be foolish to just assume that this was all he was.

"10,000 beli alive and with his rifle." The manager responded, looking over the limp body of Alexander as Axel hefted him up onto the examination table. "Well, he's breathing, that's for sure, what about his rifle?" he asked, turning to face a now sheepish bounty hunter scratching the back of his head.

"Well… you see… he refused to calm down when his bullets bounced off of my shell, so he kind of panicked… and… well…" Axel chuckled nervously, handing the manager Alexander's rifle, which had been snapped in half when he had tried to knock Axel's block off with it.

The manager sighed as he took the rifle off of his hands. "This'll cut down your pay, the client wanted to hang the rifle up over their fireplace as a souvenir." He said, placing the rifle on his desk.

Axel groaned as he leaned against the office's wall. "How much…" he asked, dreading the answer.

"Well… I'd say that with the rifle in a condition like this, it'll knock off about a quarter of the bounty."

"Damn, 2,500 for a poorly made rifle?" the grey haired man asked.

"Rich pricks love their symbols." The old man replied simply.

Axel sighed in annoyance, pushing himself upright. "Fine, fine, just hand over the 7,500 and I'll be on my way." He grumbled.

 **(*)**

After Axel had gotten his pay, he decided to take a walk around the town, he vaguely remembered there being a small restaurant or a café being on this island somewhere. "I wonder if they have any apples?" he muttered, and began his search for his favourite food, unaware that his life was about to change for the better.

 **(*)**

"Shishishi! Hurry up Coby, I'm hungry!" a young man wearing a straw hat yelled loudly

"Luffy, come on!" a pink haired boy wearing a pair of round glasses called back as he ran after his friend, they had just arrived on the island after they had defeated 'Iron-mace' Alvida (More like _Luffy_ defeated her), and Luffy was hungry.

"So, where can we get something to eat?" Luffy asked, seemingly forgetting about why they came here In the first place. This caused the boy next to him; Coby, to sigh.

"I don't know, this is my first time on this island."

Luffy, hummed, before a rare good idea entered his mind. "Hey! Let's ask that guy!" he pointed at a certain grey-haired man who was walking straight towards them.

Coby blinked, looked at where Luffy was pointing, and then blanched in fear. "N-No way! He looks like some kind of scary dangerous criminal!" he cried out, only for Luffy to completely ignore him, and run up to the man.

"Hey, old man! Do you know where we can get something to eat?"

 **(*)**

Axel groaned as he walked through the town, he had no idea where he was, having only visited this town to drop off either the unconscious bodies of his bounties, or their corpses, he really had no knowledge of the area.

He was about to give up on his search, when a voice called out to him.

"Hey, old man! Do you know where we can get something to eat?"

Axel twitched, no, that couldn't have been referring to him, he was only 18 after all.

"Old man! Wait up!"

"Who you calling old!" he snapped back. "My hair is _naturally_ grey!" he swiftly turned himself around to glare at the one who insulted his awesome hair.

Coby squeaked in fear as the 'scary' man turned to glare at Luffy. ' _We're going to die, we're going to die!_ ' were some of his frantic thoughts.

Luffy on the other hand, gasped in wonder. "So cool!" he grinned, not afraid in the least of this thuggish looking man who towered over him. "Is it made out of metal?!"

Axel gave Luffy a look that plainly questioned his state of mind, even though the lanky teen had somehow figured out his powers, unaware that Luffy's strange mind reading was just another one of his usual comments.

Coby decided to step in here, trying to keep anything bad from happening to his new friend, he ran up to Axel, and bowed. "I-I'm sorry, but we're trying to find somewhere to get something to eat, Luffy's… not a people person." He tried to explain, sweating bullets.

"Eh?" Axel blinked. "Strange, that's the same reason that _I'm_ walking around for." He revealed.

"Really? Do you know where we can eat then?" Luffy asked happily, almost drooling as he thought about the amount he would eat. But that bubble would soon be burst by Axel himself, who shook his head.

"Nope, that's why I'm still out here instead of sitting down and eating, though I do know that there's a café/restaurant somewhere on this island." He responded with an annoyed frown, he had been searching for ages! (AN: Five minutes. :P)

Luffy slapped his left fist down into his right palm in a classic 'I have an idea!' pose. "Why don't we search for it together then!" he grinned, causing Coby to squawk, not trusting Axel yet, he tried to say something, but was promptly ignored by the two.

Axel shrugged. "Eh, fine with me, three heads are better than two, or something like that."

"Great! Let's go!" Luffy whooped, a big smile on his face as he ran off, leaving Axel and Luffy in the dust.

"…" Axel stared after him for a few seconds, before sighing, and shaking his head. "I don't want to know." He muttered. "Come on kid, let's go catch up to him before he gets into trouble." He sighed, and ran off to catch him.

"H-Hey! Wait for me!" Coby cried out, trying to keep up with the much larger man.

 **(*)**

"Thish wish wealy gwod! (Translation: This is really good!)" Luffy commented as he stuffed his face. They had found the café after a few more minutes of searching, and after many complaints from Luffy about being hungry.

Axel on the other hand, was calmly eating a plate of apple pie, one of his favourite foods due to having apples in them. "Hmm… not bad, but not the best I've eaten." He shrugged, finishing it off, and pushing the plate to the side. He had high standards about his apples.

"So, Cody, I guess this is where we part ways, right?" Luffy said with a smile. "Do your best to be a great Marine."

"Oh? The kid wants to be a Marine?" Axel grunted. "Bunch of pansies in my opinion." He was sadly; ignored.

Coby looked ready to burst out into tears. "Y-Yes! *Sniffle* I will!" he said with a big smile. "You have to become a great pirate as well then!" he said, causing Axel to almost choke on the water that he was drinking, though he managed to hide it well.

' _Pirate?_ ' he thought with slightly narrowed eyes. ' _This kid?_ ' he could barely hold back his incredulity as he looked at Luffy. ' _He doesn't look like he could hurt a fly!_ '

He decided to keep an eye on Luffy, he wanted to find out what kind of man he was, what he found out, would decide what he would do with the straw-hatted menace.

"Hey…" Luffy started. "I wonder if Zoro is still being kept at the Marine base…"

* **Smash** * * **Crash** *

This… got a reaction.

"Woah… it looks like we can't talk about Zoro loudly around here…" Coby whispered to Luffy, causing an affirmative nod from his friend.

"Did you say Zoro?" Axel asked with a raised eyebrow, causing an overweight woman with curly hair to faint… not that he cared.

"Yeah, what about him?" Luffy tilted his head slightly in confusion.

"I've met the guy before." Axel stated. "He didn't seem like a guy who would get himself locked up, especially in a place like this." Unknown to Axel, this just pushed him more into Coby's 'Thug' category.

"Really?!" Coby squeaked, and was promptly ignored.

"Cool, you know Zoro! That means you can help us!" Luffy grinned.

"It's more like a passing acquaintance." Axel admitted. "We were after the same bounty, and we held a contest to see how many of his goons we could take care of when we realized this, I won, barely, and he calmly let me take the bounty." He explained.

Luffy once again, only heard what he wanted to. "Let's go and get Zoro to join my crew!" he yelled, and dragged a deadpan Axel, and a protesting Coby out of the café.

 **(*)**

"Why would they react to Lieutenant Morgan's name in the same way as Zoro's?" Coby asked, confused. "I could understand it with Zoro's name, he's supposed to be evil, and could escape at any time, but the Marines?"

"Well, he could have done something bad, right?" Luffy suggested uncaringly.

"That's impossible!" Coby cried out in anger, as if the very idea didn't compute to him.

Axel scoffed. "There _are_ such things as corrupt Marines, kid, you'd do well to learn that quickly." He advised. Naivety killed just as well as a sword, he had learned that the hard way.

"S-Shut up! Marines are the ones keeping pirates from killing everybody!" Coby protested.

Axel just rolled his eyes, and decided to ignore him, Coby would learn sooner or later.

 **(*)**

"So, this is the Marine base…" Luffy commented as they stood outside of the complex, their entrance blocked by a large steel gate with the word 'MARINE' printed in big, bold capital letters. "It looks pretty ugly up close."

"Huh, Marines are usually more flashy then this." Axel commented as well, noticing the dull blue and grey colouring of basically everything.

"Go ahead Coby, knock, or something." Luffy told his younger friend.

"W-What?! B-But I'm not ready! I-I need time to prepare!" Coby stalled, his legs shaking as he thought about what could happen.

As always, Luffy ignored Coby's complaining, and promptly climbed the wall and looked over it. "Hmmm…"

"GAH! Luffy, get down from there!" Coby cried out in alarm. "You'll get us in trouble!"

"Hmm… where is he…" Luffy mused, before he narrowed his eyes slightly, and hopped down from the wall.

Coby sighed, realizing what Luffy was trying to do "You won't find him like that Luffy, he's probably being kept in a highly secure room, with the highest secure-"

"No, I saw someone over there somewhere!" Luffy interrupted.

"E-Eh….?" Coby blinked.

 **(*)**

"So… this is Zoro?" Luffy asked as both he and Axel were hanging from the wall like Luffy was before, Coby had fallen down in fear from the first sight of the tired looking man. "He doesn't look that impressive, I could break those ropes easily."

Zoro was a green haired man wearing a black bandana on his head, a white short sleeved shirt with a green sash around his waist, he also wore long black pants, and a set of black shoes. Strangely though, he was tied standing up to a wooden cross, with his arms hooked over the arms of the cross, his body was covered in numerous bruises, cuts, and other wounds, and by the way he was slouching, he was utterly exhausted.

"Not many people _do_ look impressive when they're tied up." Axel said, looking over at Zoro with a frown. "Those wounds… he's been beaten, this isn't just imprisonment, this is public humiliation!" he realized.

"Whoa! You're smart!" Luffy gasped, stars in his eyes as he looked at Axel.

"Not really, I'm just observant." Axel shrugged.

"D-Don't joke about freeing him like that! He'll kill us all if you did that!" Coby yelled out, scrambling back up the wall as he sweated bullets.

"Hey… you three!" the tied up man suddenly called out, his voice tired and dry.

"He talked!" Coby squeaked, duking down until only the top part of his head could be seen.

"Could you… come over here… and untie me?" Zoro continued. "I've been tied up for nine days, and I'm almost at my limit." He requested with a bloody smirk.

"Hey, he's smiling." Luffy observed, blinking in confusion, not understanding why anyone could smile in a situation like that.

"Of course… I'll repay you, I'm a bounty hunter; I'll hunt down a criminal, and give you the reward. I'm not lying, I'm a man of my word."

Coby definitely didn't like that idea. "No! Don't listen to him Luffy! If you free him, he'll kill us all!"

"He can't kill me." Luffy responded simply, causing Coby to freeze. "Because I'm too strong."

"?!" Zoro stared at Luffy. ' _Who is this kid?_ ' he thought in confusion.

Coby whimpered.

"Eh?" Axel blinked as a ladder was braced beside him, and a little girl with short hair and wearing a striped hoodie and shorts climbed up it.

"Shhh!" she shushed them all, before jumping down over the wall, and running over to a confused Zoro, carrying some kind of package.

"AAH! Luffy, stop her, he'll hurt her!" Coby hissed to Luffy, who ignored him, he was just wondering what Zoro would do.

"Oh shut up." Axel groaned, nearing the end of his tether. "You're really annoying, you know that?"

"…What are you doing here?" Zoro asked as the girl walked up to him, and smiled happily, seemingly not intimidated at all.

Said girl opened up the package she was carrying, to reveal two rice balls, each being slightly larger than her hands. "Ah, Mister, I made these for you!" she chirped. "It's my first time mak-"

"I'm not hungry." Zoro interrupted bluntly. "Get lost."

The girl looked disheartened by Zoro's blunt refusal "But-"

"I said I'm not hungry! Now go away or I'll kill you!" Zoro snapped.

The girl was about to respond, when another voice joined the fray. "Roronoa Zoro! Picking on little kids I see." A high, but male voice called out as a set of metal gates to the side swung open, and three figures walked towards Zoro and the girl.

"Ah, the Marines, they'll save that girl!" Coby smiled, thinking safely in the fact that his personal heroes were on the scene.

Two of the figures were wearing the standard Marine uniform; black pants, with a white sleeveless shirt, blue neckerchief, and a white cap with the word 'Marine' in bold blue letters. But the one in the middle… he was different.

He was a short blonde man, whose hair was in some sort of bob-cut, and he wore what looked to be an expensive purple suit, which had six golden buttons in the stomach area of it, while under it, he wore a leopard print long sleeved button-up shirt which he left unbuttoned near his neck. And for his lower body, he wore dress pants that were the same colour as his suit, and expensive looking leopard print shoes.

"Well, if it isn't Helmeppo; the Lieutenant's bastard son." Zoro commented, giving the blonde fop an uncaring side-glance.

"Bastard? Hmph! My father is Marine Lieutenant!" Helmeppo scoffed as if that actually changed anything. He swaggered over to the little girl arrogantly. "Oh? Rice balls?" he smirked, and swiped one from the girl. "They look pretty tasty."

"Hey! Give that back! That's not for you!" the girl yelled, trying to get her food back from him.

"Nonsense." Helmeppo scoffed, and took a bite from the rice ball, but was soon spitting it out as he choked. "Blegh!" he coughed. "W-What the?! Y-You're supposed to put salt in it! Not sugar!"

"B-But… I thought it would taste better if it was sweet…" the girl sniffled, crying out as Helmeppo swiped the other one, before he threw them both to the ground, and began stomping them. "No! Stop!"

"Disgusting, disgusting, disgusting!" Helmeppo growled as he repeatedly stomped the food into the ground with his shoe. "How can anyone eat something so disgusting!"

"T-That's so cruel…" Coby said softly, looking at the scene with a shocked expression. "That girl… she worked so hard on them…"

Soon, the rice balls were nothing but a small white patch covering the ground, and Helmeppo was laughing as he pointed to a sign next to him. "All this could have been avoided if you read the sign, you can read, right?" he raised an eyebrow. "Anyone who helps a prisoner will be charged with the same crime." He read out, before noticing that the little girl was in tears. "Ugh… I hate little brats like you. Oi! Throw this brat out!" he ordered the Marine next to him, who looked shocked.

"W-What?!" the Marine's eyes widened.

"I said throw her out of here!" the blonde fop yelled at the Marine as he grabbed his collar.

"B-But sir, she's just a little girl!" the Marine tried to reason.

"Are you trying to disobey me?! I'm telling my Daddy!" Helmeppo yelled.

"W-Wait sir! I'll do it!" the Marine gulped, before he quickly scooped up the girl. "I'm sorry, curl into a ball, that'll help break the fall…" he whispered, before tossing the screaming child over the wall. And she would have hit the ground hard, had Luffy not caught her and used his body to break his fall.

"Oof…!" Luffy grunted as he landed, and let the girl up.

"Are you OK?" Coby asked the girl softly as he ran up to her, while in his mind, he was growling. ' _Those bastards!_ '

Luffy dusted himself off, while frowning in the direction of Zoro.

Axel was staying back, he wasn't good with kids, period.

Luffy's ears twitched as he heard Helmeppo say something. "Oh, I'll keep my promise; If you're alive after a month of this, I'll let you go." He said. "Good luck!"

Axel sighed as he saw Luffy's expression. "Go on, I'll make sure these two don't get into trouble."

Luffy grinned.

 **(*)**

Zoro sighed as he lose his eyes for a bit, but soon as he opened them, he frowned, that kid wearing the straw hat was in front of him. "You still here? You better leave, if that bastard finds you here, he'll tell his father." He warned him.

"I'm looking for someone to join my pirate crew." Luffy said simply, ignoring the warning.

Zoro raised an eyebrow. ' _Is this kid for real?_ ' he thought. "Pirate crew? So you gave up on your like to become a criminal?"

This seemed to actually offend Luffy somewhat, because he frowned, and pointed at himself. "There's nothing wrong with being a pirate, it's my dream!"

Zoro smirked. "So, what's your plan, you gonna force me to join your crew after you untie me?" he chuckled.

Luffy shrugged. "I haven't made up my mind yet, everyone says that you're a bad guy." He said simply.

Zoro scoffed. "I don't care what they think, I'll never become a pirate! I have things to take care of, dreams of my own! So go find someone else to join you!"

Luffy shrugged, and turned around to leave, but as he did:

"Hey, wait!" Zoro called out reluctantly, staring at a certain patch of ground.

"Huh?" Luffy turned around, and looked at him. "What?"

"Could you… pick that up for me?" he asked gesturing with his head to the crushed rice ball on the ground.

"You want to eat this?" Luffy asked, gathering up the remains of the little girl's food. "It's all full of mud an-"

"Shut up and give it to me!" Zoro snapped at Luffy, who shrugged, and tossed it at Zoro, who caught it in his mouth.

"Are you _trying_ to kill yourself?" Luffy commented as Zoro swallowed the food, coughing and spluttering.

"S-Shut up…" Zoro coughed. "D-Do me a favour… tell that little girl; thanks, the rice ball tasted great." He said, causing Luffy to grin.

 **(*)**

"He really said that?!" the little girl asked with a big smile as Luffy sat down by her house, Coby was sitting on a barrel, and Axel was leaning on a wall, a smaller smile on his face.

Hey, he might not be _good_ with kids, but that didn't mean he didn't like to see them happy.

"Yep! Every last crumb!" Luffy nodded. "Shishishishi!" he laughed.

"Is he really as bad as everyone says?" Coby asked, causing the girl to glare at him with puffed cheeks.

"No! He didn't do anything wrong, he got arrested become of me…" she sighed, looking down at the ground. "He killed Helmeppo's pet wolf." She began. "Helmeppo would let his wolf run around breaking things and scaring everyone, and I wasn't able to get away when it set its sight on me." She explained.

"So, he got arrested because he saved your life?" Axel asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Ah, yes." The girl nodded, a frown on her face. "The only bad ones here are the Morgan family! They've got everyone here scared because they threaten to execute you if you disobey them!"

"Hmph, they're the word kind of people…" Axel growled.

"Heh, heh, heh, heh!" an annoying laugh sounded out, Helmeppo had arrived, and was forcing everyone to bow as he passed. "Anyone who raises their heads will be executed! Got that! I'll tell my daddy, and you'll end up like Roronoa Zoro will, I'm going to execute him in three days, and you can join him!" he laughed as he swaggered by with his two Marine cronies.

"Three days?" Luffy asked as he walked up to Helmeppo, a frown on his face. "Didn't you say that you'd give him a month?"

Helmeppo snorted. "I was lying, only an idiot would believe that!" he announced, unaware of the fury that he had just excited.

" **You bastard!** " Luffy roared in anger as he slammed his fist into Helmeppo's face, sending him to his ass.

"Hmph, I hate liars." Axel growled in agreement, slamming the two Marine's heads together, knocking them out, he was stealthier then he looked.

Luffy nodded to Axel. "Coby, I've decided, **Zoro is joining my crew!** "

 **(*)**

 **Aaand that's it for this chapter, just a** _ **bit**_ **longer than last time, at around 4 and a half thousand words more than double the first chapter's length, this took a lot out of me, and I don't know why, hmm, I'll have to think on it**

 **Anyway, please leave a review if you have any ideas on how to help me improve this fic, I'd appreciate it. See you next time.**

 **Cryostatus.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A Little Bit of Metal.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece, I** _ **do**_ **on the other hand, own my OC Axel.**

 **Okay… I have read through a bit of the early Manga, and realized that Morgan was a Captain, not a Lieutenant, I even checked up on it using the wiki and a few other sources, so from now on, he will be referred to as; Captain Morgan.**

 **Anyway, third chapter! In this one, Luffy, Axel, and Coby face the aftermath of their actions, and do whatever they can to free Zoro, let's see if they can do it, eh?**

 **(*)**

Coby eventually snapped out of his shock induced coma, and ran up to Luffy and Axel. "Luffy, Axel! Calm down, they're Marines!" he yelled fearfully, not wanting his friend, nor someone who Luffy seemed to get along with, to be imprisoned.

"I don't care! A bastard is still a bastard, no matter who they're with!" Luffy growled.

"I agree with Luffy." Axel nodded, though the two didn't notice it, this was the first time that Axel had ever called Luffy something other than 'Kid'. "I dislike people like that."

"Y-You hit me!" Helmeppo stated as he held his bruised cheek, tears and snot running down his face. "N-Not even daddy has hit me before…" he began shaking, and before long, the words that everyone feared were spoken, no matter how childish they were. " **I'm telling my daddy!** " Helmeppo screamed, before he scrambled off. "You'll get the death sentence for this! Death!" he screamed as he ran into the distance.

"Wow, that's gotta be one of the saddest things that I've ever seen." Axel commented dryly as he watched Helmeppo run off. "How did he even get into the Marines in the first place?"

"That was so cool!" the girl cried out with a big smile. "You sent Helmeppo running with only one punch!" she then turned to Axel, who blinked as she smiled at him as well. "And you! I didn't even realize that you had moved! Those two didn't stand a chance!"

"Err…" Axel shifted slightly, clearly not being used to being _thanked_ for hitting someone. "You're welcome, I guess."

"Rika!" a female voice called out, and what looked to be an older version of the little girl ran up, and gently pulled her away from the three, she was obviously the little girl's mother. "Don't talk to strangers! You'll be executed if you're mistaken as one of their friends."

"Mom! They're good people! Just like Zoro!"

"Don't be silly! Now get inside!" it was plainly obvious that the mother didn't mean any offence, she was just trying to protect her daughter.

Axel gave a slightly bitter smile, but managed to quickly hide it. " _Go._ " He mouthed, before he turned to Luffy, coming to a decision. "Luffy!" he started, causing the now calmed down pirate to turn back to him.

"Eh?"

"It's plainly obvious that this town is under the feet of a tyrannical and corrupt Marine, so, in exchange for your help in taking care of this 'Captain Morgan', I will join your crew! He said, though this could also just be him ensuring his own safety with numbers.

Luffy, obviously, didn't think about this particular detail, and grinned. "Sure old man, whatever you say!"

Axel twitched. "My name's Axel!" he raged comically, he had a feeling that this would become a regular thing.

Luffy nodded absently, and began walking away. "Shishishishishi! Let's go talk to Zoro!" he said, leaving Axel unsure if Luffy had ignored him or not.

 **(*)**

"I… am Great." A large man said simply as he stared out of a large window while he sat down in a throne-like chair, and smoked a cigar, but the most noticeable things about him were the axe that he had in place of a hand, and his metal jaw, this was Captain 'Axe-hand' Morgan.

"Yes Sir Captain Morgan sir!" a Marine spoke up from next to the door to the office, his back completely straight, and standing in a salute.

Morgan nodded, looking over a document in his one remaining hand. "Hmm… the revenue we usually get from the townsfolk, it's decreasing?" he thought out loud.

"Ah! That…" the saluting Marine started nervously. "The citizens have been having financial problems as of late." He tried to explain, but froze as Morgan stood up, hoping that Morgan didn't take that as insubordination.

"It's not a matter of financial problems." Morgan disagreed with a scowl. "It's because they don't respect me enough!"

"R-Respect?" The Marine blinked in confusion, and was about to continue, when the door to Morgan's office was slammed open.

"Daddy!" Helmeppo yelled as he held a handkerchief to his injured cheek. "There's someone I want you to kill!"

 **(*)**

"Yo." Luffy greeted Zoro simply as he walked over to him with Axel following close behind.

"You again?" Zoro groaned in annoyance. "I already told you, I'm not going to join your crew." He said.

"I'm Luffy!" he continued as if Zoro hadn't spoken, causing Axel to grin in amusement. "And this is… uh… what's your name again old man?"

Axel's grin was quickly lost, and a tick mark and a twitching eyebrow replaced it. "Axel… my name is Axel." He repeated with barely restraint annoyance.

"Right, right…" Luffy muttered, before he turned back to Zoro. "Anyway, if I untie you, you have to join me, OK?" he said with a smile.

"… I already told you clearly, I have things that I need to do, being a pirate would get in the way of those things." Zoro responded, as if he was speaking to a particularly dull child.

Luffy huffed. "How would that get in the way? Besides, everyone already thinks that you're as bad as a pirate, so why not become one?"

"I don't care what they say about me! I haven't done one thing that I regretted in the past, and it'll be the same in the future too! I'll make sure of it!" Zoro snapped. "I refuse to become a pirate." He finished after a few seconds.

"No! I won't accept that, I refuse your refusal!" Luffy declared childishly.

"What do you mean you refuse my refusal?! That's not how that works!" Zoro yelled angrily, before he finally noticed the second person. "Huh…?" he blinked, looking around Luffy to see Axel standing behind the young pirate. "You…?" he blinked.

"Yo, long time no see Zoro." Axel greeted with a lazy wave, wondering how the swordsman would react to him.

"… Who are you again?" Zoro asked, causing Axel to face-plant.

"Oh come on!" Axel roared in indignation. "What is it with people forgetting my name?! It's a simple two syllable word! Ax-el! Ax-el!" he repeated, causing both Luffy and Zoro to sweatdrop.

"Uhh…" Zoro sounded, before he remembered. "Oh yeah! You're that bounty hunter that I had that contest with, Axel, right?" he asked. "Don't tell me that you're part of this kid's crew…" he actually seemed disappointed at that.

Axel made a 'sort of' gesture with his hands. "Eh, sort of, he's going to help we liberate this town, and in return, I join his crew." He said.

"Liberate?" Zoro asked, before a look of realization bloomed on his face. "Right, the Morgans." He nodded, smirking. "I guess this would be those morals of yours in full swing, eh?" he chuckled.

Axel twitched, not knowing if that was supposed to be an insult or not. "Anyway, Luffy wants you on his crew, and as he is my captain, I have to help him."

Zoro narrowed his eyes. "Like I said before, there's nothing either of you can say that will convince me to join you." He stated bluntly.

Axel stared at him for a while, before a sly grin broke out on his face. "So, you're a swordsman, right? I wonder where they are at the moment." He grinned, the last part of his question sounding more like a statement than a question.

"Ugh…" Zoro grunted, but stayed silent, almost dreading what he was getting at.

"Ah! That's right! You use a sword, right? So where is it?" Luffy asked with a grin.

"Hmph, that bastard Helmeppo took them, they're my greatest treasure, other than my life." Zoro stated, annoyed with the constant prodding.

A metaphorical light-bulb went off in Luffy's head, and he grinned. "Ah! How about this then; I'll go and find Helmet guy, and get your swords back for you!" he suggested.

"…What?" Zoro was confused, why would he do that without any ulterior mot-

"But in exchange, you have to join my crew!" Luffy finished with a laugh.

"WHY YOU!" Zoro yelled angrily, Axel had subtly manipulated Luffy into getting his swords with only a few words!

"OK! Bye!" Luffy grinned, and ran off to find the swords in the Marine base.

As Luffy ran off, Zoro turned his head to look at Axel, who had sat down calmly on the ground near him. "Not gonna help him?" he asked, curious as to why he was just sitting there.

"This'll be my test to see if he's worthy of being my captain, if he can't storm a Marine base and singlehandedly steal a set of objects from said base which will no doubt be under _some_ kind of guard, what use would there be in following him?" Axel replied with a yawn.

"I guess I can understand that." Zoro conceded, if he was ever to work under somebody, he'd hate it to be a weakling.

Suddenly, a voice that suspiciously sounded like Luffy's could be heard. "Gum-Gum…!"

"Huh?" Axel blinked, and turned towards the Marine base, wondering what Luffy was up to, but his eyes widened as he saw Luffy's arm stretch out, and hook onto the base's main tower. "W-What?!"

" **ROCKET!** " Luffy yelled as he unbraced his legs, and let himself get pulled up by his apparently rubber limb to the roof of the tower.

"Y-You're kidding me…" Axel muttered. "Another fruit user on in the East Blue?"

"You say something?" Zoro asked, not having been listening.

"No… it's nothing." Axel replied, having to repress a chuckle. ' _He might actually be able to do this…_ ' he thought amused, until the sounds of rushed footsteps could be heard by him, he turned around to face the sound, and blinked in surprise. "…You?"

 **(*)**

"Daddy! Why haven't you killed that straw-hatted idiot and his uncultured friend yet?! He hit me, not even you do that!" Helmeppo demanded as he stood up on the base's main tower with his father, the large man directing a sizable amount of his Marines on erecting a huge statue of himself.

Captain Morgan, who simply glanced at his son, let out a puff of cigar smoke from his mouth, before he spat out the nub that was left, and turned fully to him. "…Do you know _why_ I have never hit you before?" he asked, slowly standing up, towering over everyone there.

Helmeppo blinked in confusion. "B-Because I'm your precious son?" he said, though it sounded more like a question.

*Thwap*

" **WRONG!** " Morgan bellowed, having hit Helmeppo on the other side of his face with his remaining fist, causing him to fall to the floor, and making his face nice and symmetrical with one bruise on either cheek. " **It's because you're a bastard that's not worth hitting!** "

"W-What…?" Helmeppo whimpered as he struggled to lift himself off, but was stopped by Morgan keeping him there with his boot clad foot.

"Why do I keep having to sort out your messes." He muttered, before looking down at his son like one would a bug. "You are not the great one here, **I** am, and you'd best remember that!" he snapped, before stepping off of his son, and walking back to supervise the statue. "Oh, by the way, I heard that a little rat snuck into the execution site, is that right?" he asked.

"T-The l-little girl?" Helmeppo squeaked. "I already t-took care of her." He said. "She won't be coming back."

"Did you kill her?" Morgan demanded bluntly, causing Helmeppo to blanch.

"W-What?! Kill her?! No! She didn't even realize what she was doing!"

Morgan grunted. "Typical, useless as ever." He muttered, before pointing a blonde bearded Marine with a stitched up scar on the right side of his forehead, Morgan's lieutenant. "You there, go down into the town and kill this girl, I don't care how old she is!" he ordered.

"W-What?! But Captain! She's just a little girl!" he shouted, before he realized that Morgan was standing in front of him with a blank expression, unmoved. "I won't do it." He told Morgan bluntly, sweating profusely as Morgan raised an eyebrow, and began to slowly walk over to him.

"Won't do it, eh?" Morgan growled. "You are a lieutenant, right?" he asked, slowly drawing closer to the scared Marine.

"Y-Yes sir." He answered nervously with a nod.

"I might be getting forgetful, but lieutenant is a lower rank then Captain, right?" the large axe-handed man continued as he raised his axe as if he was pointing at the man.

"Y-Yes sir, you're right sir." The Marine confirmed with a gulp, his eyes locked on the axe.

"In that case, you have no right to disobey my orders!" Morgan growled, now close enough to the Marine that he could see the marine shaking in fear.

"I won't do it! I refuse!" the marine gulped, closing his eyes, knowing what was coming next.

Morgan sighed, before his eyes sharpened, and he raised his axe hand, before he brought it down on the lieutenant, ripping open a large gash in his chest. " **Traitor!** " he bellowed, blood coating his axe as the marine collapsed to the ground, that wound would kill him in minutes.

"L-Lieutenant!" the rest of the marines cried out in shock, before turning to the captain in fear.

"With this arm, I rose the rank of captain." Morgan began, speaking to all the men on the roof, uncaring of the slowly dying body behind him. "Rank is the most important thing in the word! I am the highest ranking person in this base, which means I'm the greatest one here!" he roared. "Great men don't make mistakes, **don't you all agree?!** "

" **S-Sir yes sir**!" the marines saluted fearfully, answering in synch as they turned around and began to pull up Morgan's massive statue without even being ordered to.

"HAH! Yes! When this is finally erected, it will be able to be seen from every corner of this island! My greatness will be shown to all!" he laughed as he cast his arms out as he grinned nastily.

"Gum-gum…" a shout was suddenly heard, causing Morgan to blink, and turn to look behind him in confusion, unaware about what was about to happen.

"What was that?" he narrowed his eyes, noticing out of the corner of his eye Helmeppo shakily getting up, and walking over to the roof access door.

" **ROCKET!** "

Suddenly, a familiar straw-hatted figure laughed up right in front of Morgan's unbelieving eyes, and grabbed onto one of the supporting ropes to bring himself down onto the roof, but this had the unfortunate effect of sending the statue, and the marines off balance, forcing them to either let go of the ropes, or be pulled over the roof.

That obviously, caused something that a certain captain would never forgive.

* **Crash* *Crack* *Doooom***

The marines, Morgan, Helmeppo, and even Luffy stood stock-still as Morgan's huge statue tumbled down to the ground of the tower, before splitting in half, and leaving the top half to tumble down to the dirt below.

"U-Urk…!" Morgan choked, his neck mechanically turning to stare at Luffy, his brain not having restarted enough to be angry yet after having seen his masterpiece destroyed in an instant.

"E-Err… sorry about that!" Luffy apologised with a sheepish grin, looking at all the marines staring at him with cationic expressions. "I wasn't watching what I was grabbing onto."

*Snap*

" **CAPTURE HIM! I'LL EXECUTE HIM MYSELF!** " Morgan bellowed, his expression one of apoplectic rage.

"Y-Yes sir!" the marines replied with, charging at Luffy with swords and rifles.

"There Daddy! That's the one that hit me!" Helmeppo screamed, drawing Luffy's attention to him due to his shrill voice.

"Ah! Just the guy I wanted to see!" Luffy grinned, grabbing Helmeppo by the collar of his expensive suit, and dragging him into the building.

"AAH! Daddy help me!" Helmeppo squealed.

Morgan was angry enough at all that had happened, so when another marine looking down at the execution site called out to him, he was ready to kill him just for being there.

"Sir! There's a couple of people down in the execution site, by Roronoa Zoro's crucifix!" the marine called out.

"What?! More traitors!" Morgan growled. "Kill them! Shoot them from here!"

"Yes sir!" the marine nodded as he took aim down the sights, setting his sights on the one he thought was the most dangerous.

 **(*)**

"…You?" Axel blinked as Coby ran up to him and Zoro, he had thought the kid had chickened out. "What are you doing here kid?" he asked.

"I've come to help Luffy and Axel!" Coby stated, surprising Axel, he thought the kid hated him. Coby turned to Axel with an apologetic expression, and bowed to him. "I-I'm sorry Axel, I shouldn't have just dismissed you when you said that corrupted marines existed, you were just trying to help me…" he said, stunning Axel with how genuine he sounded.

Axel stood there for a few seconds with his eyes wide, before he let out a barking laugh. "Khahahaha! You're alright kid… no, Coby!" he laughed.

Coby let out a little giggle of his own, before he shook his head, and turned back to Zoro. "Anyway, where is Luffy?!" he asked the green-haired swordsman.

Zoro blinked, before motioning his head towards the base. "Straw-hat is trying to get back my swords from that bastard kid Helmeppo." He said to him, causing Coby to grimace.

"Ugh, that's just like him, Luffy's too impulsive!" Coby stated, causing both Zoro and Axe to nod. But surprisingly, Coby started to untie Zoro's ropes.

"Hey kid! You'll be killed if the marines find you helping me." Zoro told him, causing Coby to growl.

"Those people aren't true marines! You shouldn't be like this! You're innocent!" he said. "I'm going to become a **true** marine, I'm just as determined to become a great marine as Luffy is to become the pirate king!"

"Pirate king!?" both Zoro and Axel gasped, this being the first that they've heard of Luffy's dream.

Coby nodded, trying to suppress a grin of amusement at the reactions of the two strong fighters. "Yeah I was shocked when he told me that as we-"

* **Bang** * * **Ting** *

Coby gasped, and fell to the floor as a shot rang out, but it was in shock, as he wasn't the one who had been shot.

"Axel!" Zoro's eyes widened as he saw the bullet impact the back of Axel's head, not even he could take a bullet to the back of the head and live.

"Oof!" Axel grunted as he felt something thud against the back of his head, and the tell-tale feeling of the back of his head turning into cold hard steel, not being the simple iron of his youth. He reached behind his head, and pulled out the bullet, which had not even managed to dent his skull even a tiny bit. "Huh." He blinked, staring at the flattened bullet, and then looking over at a slack-jawed Coby, and a shocked Zoro.

"A-A-Axel?!" Coby squeaked, not sure what was going on.

"Give me a second." Axel muttered, knowing that the shooter wouldn't take long to load his gun again for another shot. He turned around to face the tower, grinned at the two figures that he could see on top of said tower, one of which was frantically fumbling with a rifle, and slapped his left hand to the ground. " **Forge!** " he called out, and within seconds, from where his hand was touching the ground, a thick steel wall began to rise from the ground, but instead of being solid, it flowed upwards, and it seemed to take concentration, if Axel's tensed state was any indication, it was completely formed in less than ten seconds, being about three times the size of Axel, and more than wide enough to stop any attempts at shooting them, that was when he stopped concentrating, and almost immediately, it solidified into an impenetrable barrier.

"There." Axel let out a breath, and raised himself up from the ground, metal didn't like to be out of its natural state. Turning to face the even more shocked duo, he blinked. "…What?"

"Y-You… you're just like Luffy! You've eaten a Devil-fruit!" Coby pointed an accusing finger at Axel. "W-Why didn't you tell us?!"

"In order; No, I'm nothing like that forgetful straw-hat wearing monkey, yes I've eaten a Devil-fruit, and because you never asked." Axel responded smugly. "Anything else? I did just stop that guy from shooting you right now." He gestured to the large wall, which was about half the size of what Morgan's statue had been.

Coby grumbled, while Zoro gave Axel a respecting look, he hadn't paid any attention to how he fought when they had their contest, perhaps it had something to do with his powers.

 **(*)**

Morgan and the sniping marine stared slack-jawed at what had just happened. "S-Sir?" the marine gulped, turning towards his commanding officer for orders.

Morgan shook himself out of his stupor, a large frown on his face. "Grrr… have all able men down in the execution site as quickly as possible, we have a Devil-fruit user!" he ordered, causing the marine to salute, before he ran off to let the base know.

 **(*)**

Zoro sighed. "You two better get out of here, I'll just wait here for the remainder of my month, then they'll set me fre-" he was interrupted by Coby.

"No they won't!" Coby shook his head vigorously. "They're planning on killing you in free days!" he dropped the bomb.

"W-What?! Y-You're kidding, right?!" Zoro demanded, his eyes wide. "But that kid said that he'd let me go if I could survive for a month!"

Axel grunted. "Never trust marines when they think you've done something wrong, they'll do anything to take you down, especially the ones who believe in their 'Absolute Justice' shtick." He told the two with a scowl.

"A-Axel?" Coby gulped, looking at the metal man in shock.

Axel realized that he probably looked pretty scary at the moment, so he lightened up on the scowl, and sighed. "Sorry about that." He muttered, before turning to face Zoro. "But anyway, the kid was never planning on keeping that promise in the first place, locking you up here was just a game to him." He said with a pitying look, he knew how easily trust could backfire on you.

"…" Zoro just glared at the ground, but blinked as Coby ran back up to him, and began messing with the ropes.

"The marines will never let you three go with what you've done here, so I beg of you! Help Luffy! Axel is strong, but the marines have numbers!" Coby said as he futilely tried to untie the ropes. "I won't force you to join his crew, but please, help him!"

Axel stared at him in surprise, what happened to make this kid so loyal to Luffy?

Suddenly, the sounds of many footsteps could be heard. "Coby! Get behind me!" Axel ordered, narrowing his eyes as he took off his jacket, and tied it around his waist by its sleeves.

The footsteps turned out to be marines, a tonne of them, all holding swords and rifles, which they all aimed at Axel, due to everyone hiding behind him. "Stop right there!" one of them called out. "Captain Morgan has ordered your execution, you will die here!" the one who yelled that looked regretful, but it didn't change the fact that he was pointing a gun at him.

" **Surround the base! Don't let that straw-hat kid escape!** " a familiar voice roared out, it was Morgan, and he was pissed.

After a few calming breaths, Morgan slowly walked towards the three, his axe-arm slung over his shoulder like a bat. "Axel… the man with no last name, you've been here a few times, leaching the money out of my town." He growled, glaring at the man in front of him. "And now you try and free Roronoa Zoro from **my** base."

"And your point is…?" Axel drawled in a bored tone, angry opponents are usually easier to fight, unless they had no brain to begin with…

…

Actually, it might have been a better idea to just let him stay calm.

"Men!" Morgan called out. "…Ready! …Aim!"

' _I can't die here! I still need to…'_ Zoro thought frantically.

"Hmph." Axel scowled, his arms quickly turning into steel as he crossed them in front of his face.

" **Fire!** " Morgan roared, causing the marines to all pull the trigger.

But just as they fired, a figure landed in front of the three, and took the bullets for them.

"You?!" Zoro gasped.

Coby stood shocked, staring open mouthed.

"Luffy?!" Axel yelled in shock.

"Straw-hat?!" Morgan roared.

Strangely, instead of piercing through him like they would have a normal human, Luffy's skin stretched back with the bullets. "Nice… try!" Luffy grinned, and as if that was a cue, the bullets rebounded at the marines, destroying their guns. "Shishishishishi!"

"W-What are you?!" Zoro gasped in shock as he stared at Luffy, this was madness!

"I… am the man who will become the **Pirate King**!" he declared simply with a giant grin on his face.

 **(*)**

 **Well, this chapter took me a while, you would not believe how much this chapter took out of me, and it just didn't want to be written for some reason.**

 **Anyway, a little bit more of Axel's powers have been revealed, instead of iron, he now unconsciously turns his body into steel, is there a reason for this? Maybe, who knows?**

 **This should take my story into 10K territory.**

 **See you next time.**

 **Cryostatus.**


	4. An apology, and a Promise

Hey people, it's me, Cryostatus1, I'm posting this to tell you a few things;

1\. I am extremely sorry for my flat out disappearing into nothing, the only excuse I have for my absense is this; I wasn't sure what to do; as some of you that read my fic (The few that there are) have no doubt figured out, the last chapter was basically copy pasting the manga, with MC insearted into it, I wasn't sure if I should continue doign that, or switch to my style of writting and talking, while using the manga as a guide-line.

2\. Once I figure out what I am going to do, this story WILL be continued, I swear it!

That's all, and I am sorry.

Cryostatus1


End file.
